


Just To Know You

by Canismajorsirius



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-08 01:19:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7737640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canismajorsirius/pseuds/Canismajorsirius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco fell in love with Hermione the second her fist connected with his face. "I was afraid of what my father would do if he realized that the son he spent so much time training to become a death eater and to hate, didn't have an ounce of hate in him. Not for Harry Potter and not for you."  On the night of the Yule ball, Draco decides to follow Hermione after her fight with Ron. He saves her and she learns that he isn't who she thought he was. He would give up everything, if only to know her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just To Know You

Looking at her hurt, but Draco couldn't seem to look away. Hermione looked nothing if not beautiful tonight, in a fetching blue ball gown with hair that obviously had taken her hours to tame. He'd thought she was one of the prettiest girls at Hogwarts before tonight, but now he realized, quite startled, that he thought she was the most perfect woman he had ever laid eyes upon. And she wasn't even here with him. She was here with Krum, Viktor Krum was a sight to behold during a Quidditch match, but he knew the man was a complete oaf, and that Hermione must've only agreed to attend the Yule ball with him out of obligation. He didn't really see Krum as being her type; she'd want a man who was at the very least her intellectual match. So as Draco took in the visage of Hermione dancing with Krum, he didn't panic. Because he knew she would be one of the few people to actually heed the instructions about befriending the international students while they were here for the Triwizard Cup. Draco knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't date Krum.

He wondered idly how she would react if he asked for a dance, probably not too kindly, he'd been a prat to her and her friends since first year. It was unlikely that she was harboring any secret affection towards him like he did her. He had tried to hate her for the first 2 years, honestly he did, his father had tried so hard to instill his prejudiced beliefs in his son, but Lucius had failed. Draco had to force himself to be cruel to Hermione and to think of her as a second class citizen. But all of that went out the window the second her fist connected with his face last year. He was a goner after that. He'd loved her since that moment, from afar, waiting for any opportunity to prove to her that he wasn't a complete and utter prat. 

As he stood there in reverie, an opportunity arose. Hermione and Weasley started going at it like 2 hungry hippogriffs vying for the last chunk of beef. And then just as suddenly as the fight had broken out, Hermione ran off. He hesitated for a few moments, knowing what it would mean if he ran off after her. After some harsh deliberation he stood up from his seat at the table full of his friends, and ran after her, knowing full well that he'd have hell to pay later down in the Slytherin common room.

He was glad he'd come after her. Because there she was at the end of the corridor trapped between a piss drunk Cormac Maclaggen and a wall with her hands pinned above her as he kissed her neck. Draco was furious as he stalked his way over to the asshole of the century and the prettiest girl at the Yule ball.

"Get off of her you bloody git." Draco commanded, practically oozing anger.

Cormac lifted his head lazily at the sound, "Get the fuck outta here Malfoy." Cormac slurred at Draco.

Draco was in a blind rage and the next thing he knew Cormac Mclaggen was on the ground, his nose bleeding profusely. And Draco looked up at her, eyeing her up and down to make sure she hadn’t been injured.

"Y-you punched him?" Hermione questioned clearly confused at this turn of events.  
He extended a hand to her, so she could step over Mclaggen's unconscious body and she gladly took it. He silently prayed that she would never let go.

"I learned from the best," he told her, "punch first, and ask questions later."

"You had it coming, if I hadn't punched you, then someone else would've," she told him quietly.

He smiled at her sadly, "I suppose I did, but I wager Mclaggen deserved it more."

She nodded, "Thank you, for helping me. I won't tell anyone about it if you don't want me to."

He shrugged, tugging her hand and leading her away from Mclaggen before someone emerged from the ball and noticed the unconscious Hufflepuff.

"He's piss drunk, but I don't think this is a moment he'll soon forget. If he doesn't remember this incident and he gives you any more trouble, I'll be sure to remind him." Draco promised her, well aware that the whole school would know of this incident by morning.

"I'm going to walk you home, alright? I know you may want to be alone but-" he started before she swiftly cut him off.

"I don't really want to be alone right now, maybe we could go for a walk? Unless you'd like to get back to the ball."

He nodded; shocked that she'd even consider spending time with him, "I think a walk sounds nice."

So they walked in companionable silence through the halls of Hogwarts, while he stole glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking. And she stared blankly ahead, unsure of how to feel about tonight's events.

"I know this probably won't mean anything to you, but I'm genuinely sorry for being such a prat to you for all these years." Draco began, as they ambled about, nearing the library. He was felt like he either was about to puke, or run around in circles with pure joy as he met her curious gaze.

"It's just that, I was raised to think of muggle born wizards as lower class citizens. I realize that, that's not right. I mean at some point down the line all the great wizarding families must have a muggle ancestor, even mine. My father's blood prejudices run deep and he's tried his best to instill those same beliefs in me. You know you were actually the first muggle born witch I'd ever met? I expected muggle born wizards to be really disgusting and dirty, like a stray dog that hadn't had a bath in a year. But then I saw you, and I didn't understand why I was supposed to hate you... You were just like me. And even with the bushy hair and the teeth thing you had going on, I still thought you were the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. Still do, truthfully. I think I was only so cruel to you to hide the fact that deep down I knew I could never truly hate you. I was afraid of what my father would do if he realized that the son he spent so much time training to become a death eater and to hate, didn't have an ounce of hate in him. Not for Harry Potter and not for you." He finished noticing a distinct chill in the air.

If he felt cold she must be freezing. He shrugged out of the jacket of his dress robes and put it around her shoulders as she pondered his words. She was conflicted about how she should feel now, given what appeared to be a very sincere confession. He had let himself be vulnerable in front of her and that wasn't something to take lightly, especially not from Draco. It was likely he'd never talked about this with anyone else, and he looked at her now with such sincerity and kindness in his eyes. She couldn't help but believe him, and pity him.

"I think I understand what you mean; it's not right of you to be so cruel to others. But then again I have no idea what sort of pressure your family has on you. And I mean, your friends, their parents are probably friends with your father, aren't they? So it stands to reason that if you made a wrong move in front of them, showed kindness to anyone who your father doesn't deem worthy of it, that they could easily tell their parents. And they in turn would tell Lucius. I don't even want to imagine what he would do to you if he thought that you'd gone against him." Hermione finally replied, looking at him like she'd just seen him for the very first time.

Draco's feelings of nausea subsided and gave way to butterflies in his stomach; she had understood him like he'd hoped she would. It was likely that no one else besides this amazing woman standing before him could've had this sort of compassion and empathy given the history between them. He wagered if someone like Pansy or Ginny had been in her shoes they would've stalked off with a begrudging thank you after he punched Mclaggen in the face. They wouldn't have given him the chance that he now had with Hermione, someone he so desperately wanted to connect with. He was convinced that she would never love him the way he did her, but if she could at least forgive him and maybe even try to be his friend, that would be enough. Anything was better then her hating him.  
He held out his arm to her then and she gladly took it as he escorted her into the library.

"I'd wager I'd get a Christmas thrashing if my father knew about this. But I've just decided that it's worth it. Just being able to know you is worth all the beatings combined." He said confidently as he led them past the circulation desk and towards the endless rows of books.

"What's your favorite book?" Hermione asked, changing the subject to something she knew was bound to turn her whole night around.

"Muggle or wizard?" He inquired pleasantly.

"Hmmm, Muggle," she requested idly wondering if he was well read, as the second best student of their age ought to be.

"You're going to make fun of me," he told her chuckling.

"I promise I won't," she replied holding out her right pinky and dropping his arm.  
He latched his left pinky onto her right and shook it, "It's the Merry Adventures of Robin Hood."

"I half expected Cloudy with a chance of meatballs," she said smiling up at him as he chuckled.

"It's mostly a nostalgic thing for me. My mother read it to me a lot when I was little, she said it was the only thing that shut me up for more than a minute. I still just love the concept of it, stealing from the wealthy to give to the poor. I remember asking my mother if we could give away our money so that the poor could be happy since we seemed to have so much money lying around and she just laughed at me. She said that I was a sweet boy but that in a couple decades I'd be really happy to have the Malfoy family fortune all to myself." He told her, amiably as he stopped at a nearby table and took a seat.

She sat down beside him and thought over his words, he really was a kind person under that cruel facade he'd worn so well for so long. It was sad that he felt like he couldn't be himself, even around his friends. She couldn't imagine living that sort of inauthentic lifestyle. She half hoped that they could grow to be friends, he would never have to pretend around her, and she would never want him to. Hermione rather liked the Draco that she'd met tonight.

"Poor little rich boy," she laughed lightly, "who wanted to play Robin Hood when others compared him to the Sheriff of Nottingham."

"So what's your favorite book?" He asked laughing and turning in his seat to meet her warm brown eyes.

"You're actually going to make fun of me for this, yours was incredibly sweet, whereas mine is incredibly dorky."

He stuck out his pinky and she took it in hers, both of them grinning at eachother like Cheshire cats.

"I pinky promise that I won't tease you about it too much, even if it is Cloudy with a chance of meatballs."

"It's Howl's moving castle. It was the last book I read before I got my Hogwarts letter and it just really stuck with me. The main character was just this completely normal girl, Sophie, who worked in her family's hat shop. Who turns out to not be so normal after all. She gets turned into an old woman and goes on the adventure of a lifetime. I just really connected with her. I was a normal kid who found out she had an extraordinary destiny. I grew up thinking that I would end up a dentist like my parents, and live a pretty boring life. But now I'm 15 and I think I've had more adventures now then anyone in my family has ever had. It's still just amazing to me, that I'm a witch and that all of the things I read about as a kid are real." She almost felt vulnerable after saying this, she was genuinely worried that he'd say something very Ron-like and ruin the moment.

"I don't know why you thought I'd laugh at that, you little nerd," Draco told her kindly, laying his hand on top of hers.

"It's just silly, you know? Cherishing a book that's just a muggle daydream about what life would be like if magic was real. But little do they know, magic IS real." She laughed a little after saying that last bit, as though this was all still new to her.

"I don't think that's silly at all Hermione, you were a kid who dreamed about being more then who you'd been raised to be and it turned out that you were everything you'd dreamed up and more. I know this is cliché to say, sitting here in a wizarding library at a wizarding school, but it's absolutely magical Hermione. It's destiny. You grew up not knowing who you were meant to be and it made you humble. I grew up trying to live up to the destiny that was set out before me and it made me wish that I was someone else." He replied rubbing his thumb along the edge of her hand, still amazed that she was here with him.

"I don't think you should have to do anything you don't want to do. Sirius grew up in a family similar to yours, and they rejected him when he was sorted into Gryffindor. The Potters took him in and treated him like a son. I know it's not a great comparison seeing as he's a wrongly convicted felon who's currently on the run from the dementors, but I'm just saying you always have options. You don't have to be anyone that you don't want to be. And you will never have to pretend with me. Just be yourself. You're more than enough. I just think you need to take some time to think about what you want and who you want to be." She told him, lifting her hand from the table to entwine it with his.

"Thank you Hermione," he said smiling warmly at her before dropping his eyes to their hands.

"It's getting late, would you like me to walk you home?" He questioned, not ready to part with her quite yet.

"Have you got a date to the ball?" She asked, avoiding his question entirely.

"I went with Pansy, but it's not really a date so much as her using me in a pathetic attempt to make Blaise jealous." He responded, wondering where she was going with this.

"Well, I'd like to dance with you, since I'm dressed to the nines and wide awake, but I also have a strong sense of self preservation." She informed him giggling a little, as she pictured Pansy's reaction to having her date usurped, and by Hermione no less.

"I'd love to dance with you but I think if we went back to the ball together that your friends would throw a fit." He said smiling sadly at her, while he internally roared at himself for turning down the opportunity of a lifetime with Hermione.

She nodded her head in agreement, rubbing her thumb in circles against the side of his hand. He had to make this night a good memory for her, she'd fought with the weasel and been pawed by a drunken Hufflepuff, she deserved a good night at a ball, dancing with a man who adored her. She deserved a full orchestra and a gaggle of friends that she could run off and giggle to between dances. She deserved far more then he could offer.... But he could offer her something, and then hope that she didn't think it was stupid.

"We could always dance here, I know there's no music but I still think it would be nice." He suggested rising to his feet and gently pulling her up with him.

She smiled up at him, "I think that would be wonderful, Draco."

He gingerly led her to an open space in the library and placed his hands upon her waist underneath his black suit jacket that she still wore. Hermione wrapped her arms about his neck in turn. And they began swaying together, slowly getting closer as time went on. She was his everything, she smelled like sunshine and lilacs, looked like something out of a dream, and she was in his arms. He knew it was stupid to think, but he couldn't help it, as he tucked her head under his chin and began to rub circles on her back with his thumbs, he thought that this may be his home. Here in the dark of the library, swaying to the silence with the girl of his dreams, Draco Malfoy felt like he had finally found where he belonged.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this! I'm planning to update every week or so, so expect chapter 2 to be posted soon! :)


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